The hallways of the Miami Dolphins' executive offices are adorned with photographs of its past legends and assorted mementos from numerous winning seasons during its long, proud past.

Most people, when they think of the Dolphins, probably think of Larry Csonka barreling his way over defenders or Dan Marino airing out a touchdown bomb. Scenes like that, however, are only part of the story. None of those scenes, really, would be possible without a front office.

Operating a professional sports franchise, after all, is much more than throwing on the pads and lacing up the cleats on Sundays.

Professional sports organizations employ hundreds of people in many different capacities. In addition to players, coaches and trainers, there are employees working in fields such as scouting, medical, ticket sales, marketing, public relations, operations and facility maintenance.

None of this is lost on Anis Buonpensiere, the benefits and human resources administrator for the club.

“We have about 800 employees and only 60 are players,” she said. “There are about 270 front-office employees and many more game-day operations employees on staff. The complexities of managing all HR functions (are) immense and wide-ranging.”

That's why the Dolphins, in an effort to efficiently address those complexities, turned to Roseland-based ADP, a leading global provider of human capital management (HCM) solutions.

Last week, ADP announced new enhancements to its ADP Workforce Now platform for midsized employers. The enhancements will help those firms improve their business performance dramatically and gain a competitive edge by creating a pay-for-performance culture, simplifying regulatory compliance and leveraging analytics to inform business decisions.

“ADP Workforce Now enables the Miami Dolphins to more efficiently manage complex salary and benefits administration for our professional athletes, coaches and staff, while simplifying compliance with regulations such as the Affordable Care Act,” said Buonpensiere, who attended ADP's “Midmarket Movers: A Human Capital Management Update” seminar last week.

“The enhancements ADP is now implementing will certainly help us make smarter decisions as our business needs continue to steadily evolve.”

“As midsized companies seek new growth opportunities, they require a more sophisticated approach to workforce management on a global scale,” said Regina Lee, president of major account services and ADP Canada.

As a result, a growing number of midsized firms are adopting these integrated HCM systems.

Lee said ADP is clearly filling a need of businesses who run into problems while growing their companies.

“Growth increases business complexity for midsized businesses by requiring them to manage a larger, often geographically dispersed workforce while employing strategic compensation programs that enable them to compete with larger firms for high performers in the war for talent,” Lee said.

“By continuing to enhance the ADP Workforce Now platform, we're empowering our clients to proactively address their complex HCM challenges so they can focus on driving business results.”

Doug Scancarella is a freelance writer based in Wayne.

Feeding a need

According to Regina Lee, the president of major account services and ADP Canada, human capital management is a real growth area.

Lee said a growing number of midsized firms are adopting integrated HCM systems to help them more efficiently manage operations across state and national borders.

In practical terms, this includes streamlining compliance with complex regulations, such as the Affordable Care Act and evolving local labor laws, attracting and retaining top talent and gaining actionable insights to help achieve strategic business goals.